Cooking Lesson

Staley loves to help me in the kitchen.  Today we had this conversation:

Me:  "Maybe after rest time you can help me make some cookies and some granola."

Staley:  "I have a great idea!  We could make granola cookies."

Me:  "Hmmmm...I don't know how to make granola cookies."

Staley:  "I do.  You just need five gallons of milk, one gallon of water, and two gallons of sugar.  Then you mix it up and cook it and that makes granola cookies."

Or sugar soup.

Either way, sounds scrumptious, right?!

Ice Bucket Challenge

The Ice Bucket Challenge is a current phenomenon used to raise awareness and money to support research for ALS (Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).  Even as someone who is not on Facebook and is admittedly out of the loop, I was aware of this trend sweeping the nation.  Simply put, individuals are pouring buckets of ice water over their heads while filming it and then challenging others to do the same.  This is done in conjunction with a donation, all to support research for this devastating diagnosis.  According to the ALS web-site, the Ice Bucket Challenge has currently raised more than $70 million.  For more information or to make a donation, feel free to visit the ALS web-site at http://www.alsa.org.  

So when we were challenged by the Bradfords to participate in this, our little family gladly accepted.  We did complete the challenge and video tape it, but as I do not know how to load videos onto my blog, I will just share a few highlights with you.

Staley was excited about Lila challenging her.  As we were getting ready to head outside to complete our challenge, Staley told me she had a great idea.  She ran upstairs and returned a few minutes later like this...

Wrapped in a blanket with her umbrella, I think she might have been missing the point.

If you were to see our video, you would get to experience:

1.  Zach completing the challenge and challenging two friends from work while Adelie is crying in the background because she wanted Staley's Dora umbrella.

2.  Staley, in true Staley form, deciding that she wanted to do her own challenge and pour the water on her arm or her leg instead of her head.  When we tried to convince her that the challenge was to pour it on her head, she dunked her head partway into the bucket (just enough to get a few hairs wet) and then decided that was all she wanted to do.  However, she did happily challenge Liam to complete the challenge that she didn't.

3.  Adelie, not quite knowing what was going on, picked up her bucket.  When Zach helped pour it on her, she cried and ran away.  She got over it quickly and then, with a little help, challenged her cousin Elliott.

4.  When it was my turn, you could watch me finish the challenge while challenging two of my brothers and their wives, all the while hearing Staley talk about alternate challenge ideas in the background.

All in all, it may not have been a picture perfect Ice Bucket Challenge video.  But it's not about perfection.  It's about doing our small part that will hopefully end up making a big difference...and looking forward to watching other people get cold and wet in the process.

Funny Girl

Adelie has always been a ham.  She will do anything for a laugh.  As her vocabulary for this early part of her life has been pretty limited, she has generally had to rely on physical humor to get her laughs.  You know, things like falling down, throwing things, putting things on her head, sticking her fingers in her ears.  But as Adelie has been adding more and more words to her vocabulary, she has found her first funny 'joke.'

At meal times (any time during breakfast, lunch, or dinner), Adelie will say "dessert."  I will say, "We're not going to have dessert."  Adelie will then smile and say, "cookie."  I'll say, "We're not going to have a cookie!"  And Adelie will grin like a chesire cat and then start again with "dessert."  Staley thinks this is SO funny, which of course keeps Adelie going and going and going.

It may not be the first one you bust out a dinner party, but it gets lots of laughs around here.

My funny girl!

Big Sister

Staley is a fantastic big sister.  She is very patient and loving and helpful with Adelie.  She shares with her, keeps an eye on her, plays with her, and gives her a hug and a kiss every night before bed.  She is also quick to tell me when Adelie is getting into something she shouldn't (which is often).  Staley is always ready to comfort Adelie when she is sad, and can make Adelie smile quicker than anyone else.

The other morning, I was getting ready in the bathroom upstairs while the girls were still sleeping.  (The girls' bedrooms are across the hallway from each other with the bathroom right between them.)  As I was in the middle of finishing my make-up, Adelie woke up and started to fuss.  I let her fuss for a few minutes while I was finishing up.  All of a sudden, Staley's bedroom door swung open and Staley went running across the hall yelling, "Don't worry, Adelie.  I'm coming.  I'm coming."  It was so sweet--and, of course, the minute Adelie heard Staley's voice, she stopped fussing immediately.

On the other hand, Staley is also quick to reprimand Adelie when she is breaking the rules (which, again, is often.)  This morning Staley was sitting at the table and Zach was standing behind her while holding Adelie.  Adelie reached down and pulled Staley's hair.  Staley said, "Oww!! Adelie is pulling my hair."  When Adelie let go, Staley turned around and told her sternly, "Adelie, I'm very disappointed in you."

Adelie is so lucky to have such a loving, attentive, and patient big sister.  And Staley is lucky to have a little sister who thinks she hung the moon.  I love watching my girls together...and I hope this sister love never changes.

First Day of School

Staley was SO excited about her first day of school today.  She picked out her favorite outfit and bow, put on her new sparkly princess backpack, and posed for first-day-of-school pictures.

On the way to school, I asked Staley what she was most excited about doing at school today.  She answered, "Learning."  I told her that she would probably have fun playing with her cousin and her new friends too.  She responded, "Recess is for playing.  Preschool is for learning."  I hope she's not disappointed in the amount of fun and playing that she will have to incorporate into her learning time.  

Staley had no qualms about being dropped off at school.  She happily hung up her backpack and jumped right into her classroom activities.  She barely noticed when I gave her a kiss good-bye.  

Usually Staley will be at preschool all day on her two days, but today was only a half-day.  I left work for awhile so I could pick her up from her first day and take her to lunch before dropping her off at the baby-sitters.  As soon as we got in the van, I asked Staley how she liked preschool.  She answered, "Great!" but then was quick to add, "but I didn't learn anything today."  Based on our conversation, I learned: 

1.  That her preschool sings a different days-of-the-week song than she sings at Miss Meagan's.  (I'm assuming same days of the week, different tune.)

2.  That she had Cheez-its for a snack and Skittles when she was lining up to go home.

3.  That they read a story about a mouse who goes to school and makes a mess, but is so little that he takes a bath in a sink.

4.  That she had the neatest backpack of anyone in her class.  (Hoping she wasn't sharing that little thought with her classmates.)

5.  That there are two bathrooms.  A little bathroom with a big sink in her room and a big bathroom with little sinks across the hall.  Apparently the big bathroom has lots of potties, but curtains instead of doors.  (Yes, the bathroom descriptions were a lengthy part of our conversation.)

6.  That she only made one friend (her cousin, Lila) but sat next to Sloan when she ate her Cheez-its.

7.  That she colored a picture.  On one side, she drew rain because it was raining outside.  On the other side, she drew a castle.  And that she had to leave her picture at school because that was the rule.

8.  That her favorite thing was playing on the playground.  I guess since there wasn't enough learning taking place, she had to find something to be a favorite.

A great first day of school for my little girl...

topped off with ice cream and sprinkles!!

Making it Happen

This morning, Staley and I attended an hour "meet-and-play" morning at her preschool (before she officially starts tomorrow.)

Staley and cousin Lila in their new classroom

Since Grammie and Grandpa were watching Adelie, I told Staley that after her meet-and-play morning, we could go do something special.  Initially we were going to paint pottery...until we drove over there to find out that they are closed on Mondays.  Bummer!!  Not to be deterred, Staley then decided that she would like to go to Hobby Lobby to get some supplies for her butterfly queen costume that she has been talking about making for literally months now (as mentioned in this previous post.)  So we went to Hobby Lobby and I told Staley she could pick out 4 supplies that she needed to make her costume.  Then we came home and with a little cutting, a little tying, and a few stitches, we made THIS...

Staley's "supplies" that she picked out included purple sequinned material, silver sequinned material, rainbow colored feathers, and a black lacy broach with rhinestones.

I'm not sure we're going to go into business, but Staley seemed pleased with the outcome.  

And I'm just proud that we could finally make this happen...even if this concoction of sequins and feathers is what we made happen.  :)

Question of the Day

On a cool, overcast morning, if you are the only people at State Farm pool, does that make you really smart...or not so bright?

No crowds.  No lines for the water slides.  No traffic jams in the lazy river.  Our own private life guard who followed us wherever we went.  Sure, both girls were shivering by the time we were done swimming, but judging from these smiles...

...I think it was a pretty good idea.